Jane Fonda’s Life in Focus: This Week’s Best Podcasts | TV and radio

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Big life

Emmanuel Dzotsi did a very short appearance on the online culture podcast Reply All, so it’s great to hear him respond again in an intelligent and talkative show. Co-hosting this series alongside Kay Wright of WNYC’s Notes from America, the duo draws on the BBC’s vast archive to tell the stories of iconic figures in popular culture. First up is actress and activist Jane Fonda, followed by a thoughtful profile of George Michael. Hannah J. Davis
Widely available, episodes weekly starting Monday, March 23

Mind control project

Criminal psychologist Dr. Julia Shaw hosts this sensitive and deeply disturbing podcast about a Canadian psychiatric hospital that uses vulnerable patients to conduct unethical brainwashing experiments for the CIA. “He was not acting like a doctor, he was an evil person,” says survivor Dr. Ewen Cameron of the Allan Memorial Institute. HJD
Widely available, weekly episodes

The Rise and Fall of Madchester

“Manchester,” Morrissey once swooned. “A lot to answer for.” Not least the loose and psychedelic music scene that gave the world Happy Mondays and Stone Roses. This eight-part score by Steve Lamacq begins with originators like Joy Division before recalling the city’s full boom in 1989 when its bands seemed to be taking over. Phil Harrison
Widely available, weekly episodes

Out of service

In 2011, Chicago police officer Clifton Lewis was murdered, beginning a 12-year battle for one suspect, Alex Vela, to clear his name. This new Guardian series is hosted by Melissa Segura, America’s chief investigative correspondent, which delivers a compelling crime story while asking critical questions about the state of the American criminal justice system. HJD
Widely available, weekly episodes

Book beware

This series deals with a series of horrific murders of sex workers in Glasgow between 1991 and 2005, and its title refers to the list of dangerous clients the women have amassed. Journalists Colette McGonigle and Callum McQuaid focus on the victims and their families, while never losing sight of the tragedies. HJD
Widely available, episodes weekly starting Monday, March 23